Former Pastor Convicted In $1.8M Fraud Scheme Involving Navy Federal Accounts
By CU Today Staff —
ST. LOUIS—A former Missouri pastor who used parishioners’ identities and Navy Federal Credit Union accounts to help carry out a nearly $1.9-million loan fraud scheme has been convicted on all 20 counts and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1.
A federal jury found Kenneth C. Sparks III, 56, guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft and 10 counts of money laundering following a three-day trial. Prosecutors dropped 13 additional counts shortly before trial, according to St. Louis Magazine and court documents.
Sparks arrived at Faith Walk Ministry in Paris, Mo., as a visiting preacher expected to stay three days but remained for three years, using the church, its employees and its members to operate what Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman called a “full-time fraud operation.” Prosecutors said Sparks obtained parishioners’ personal and financial information by claiming he would repair their credit or secure money to build a megachurch, then directed them to open credit union accounts and sign blank checks. When Navy Federal froze some accounts as suspicious, church members were given scripts containing false explanations to provide the credit union, according to federal charging documents.
Evidence showed the operation obtained about 40 fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans totaling $1.2 million, plus $685,000 in personal and auto loans. More than $1 million in pandemic-loan proceeds went to Sparks, who wrote $313,000 in checks to himself, obtained another $172,000 through cash withdrawals or advances and spent $168,000 at luxury retailers, $127,000 on real estate and $47,000 on jewelry, including a diamond-studded Rolex, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said.
Several parishioners testified that Sparks used his claimed religious authority to pressure them into participating. One member said an unauthorized auto loan caused his credit score to “tank,” while another said she feared becoming the subject of a sermon if she resisted, St. Louis Magazine reported. Ten other defendants have pleaded guilty or otherwise accepted responsibility.
Originally reported by CU Today.